Online product exchange system with price-sorted matching products

ABSTRACT

An exchange system for facilitating the purchase of new cars is described. The system is coupled, in one embodiment, to a communications link. Potential car purchasers and sellers may access the exchange system via the network, and submit offers and/or pricing requests to such system. In response to the requests, the system processor retrieves the stored data from the respective databases, and causes such data to be transmitted to the local site for display. The exchange systems also executes certain functions in response to commands and data transmitted from buyer sites, dealer sites and institution sites.

CROSS-REFERENCED RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/550,455, filed Oct.30, 1995 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,133,835, allowed, which is acontinuation-in-part of Ser. No. 08/512,365, filed Aug. 8, 1995, nowabandoned.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to product purchase systems, andmore particularly, to a product system accessible via a communicationsnetwork which facilitates the purchase of products.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When purchasing a product, a purchaser must first determine whichproduct, including brand name, model, color and other features, bestmeets his needs. Once the purchaser has an established interest inpurchasing a particular product, the purchaser typically visits, inperson or by telephone, a few stores that sell the product to determinethe best price. Once the best price is determined, all things beingequal, the purchaser usually buys from the store selling this particularproduct at the best price.

It would be desirable and advantageous to provide a product exchangesystem which enables a potential product purchaser to easily and quicklyreview specific product configurations of interest in combination withfinal pricing information for those same products in a particulargeographic region. It also would be desirable and advantageous to enablea potential product purchaser to ascertain the best price for aparticular product and to “lock in” to a specific offer via the systemwithout having to actually visit, or make direct contact with particularsellers.

An object of the present invention is to simplify and reduce the timerequired, for both the buyer and seller, in completing a product salestransaction.

Another object of the present invention is to enable potentialpurchasers to quickly and easily ascertain offers for the sale ofproducts in a particular geographic region of interest.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a productexchange system which enables a potential product purchaser to easilyand quickly review all specific product configurations of interest incombination with final pricing information for products in a particulargeographic region.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an exchangesystem which enables a potential product purchaser to ascertain the bestprice for a particular product and to “lock in” to a specific offer viathe system without having to actually visit, or make direct contactwith, the seller.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

These and other objects and advantages are achieved by a productexchange system which includes, in one embodiment, a file server havinga plurality of databases storing specific information related toproducts offered for sale. The exchange system further includes aprocessor coupled to the databases and programmed to perform certaintasks in response to price inquiries, special requests, offers to sell,offers to buy and acceptance of such offers.

The present exchange system, in one aspect, serves as a mechanism todrive sellers towards offering a lower price than currently availablefor products or services purchased by consumers. Unlike known electroniccatalog systems wherein prices are merely displayed for various items,the present exchange creates a reverse auction environment whereinsellers effectively bid against each other in an attempt to become thelowest price seller. This result, i.e., driving low price often, isachieved at least in part by configuring the exchange to display onlythe lowest price offer when a potential purchaser inquires as to thebest or lowest selling price of a particular product. That is, ratherthan displaying many different prices for a particular product as withknown electronic catalog systems, in the present exchange, only thelowest price is displayed. Of course, the lowest price offer may belimited to a particular geographic area. This result, i.e., driving lowprice offers, also is achieved at least in part by providing mechanismswithin the exchange which are operable by sellers to submit new, lowestprice, offers to sell. Particularly, the present exchange creates adynamic bidding environment wherein sellers can submit bids, i.e., lowerprice offers, against each other to attempt to become the lowest priceseller for a particular product within the exchange.

Specifically, the exchange system is coupled to a communications link,such as the telephone lines or the Internet. A potential productpurchaser may access, from a remote site, the exchange system via thenetwork, and submit requests to such system. In response to somerequests, the system processor retrieves stored data from the respectivedatabases, and causes such data to be transmitted to the remote site fordisplay. The exchange system also executes certain functions in responseto commands and data transmitted from seller sites and institutionsites, e.g., banks, other lenders or agents for buyers or sellers. Thesystem enables a potential purchaser to, for example, browse the offersin a particular geographic region for the particular product of interestand to lock-in to a particular offer to sell.

The system described above enables a potential product purchaser toeasily and quickly review all final pricing information for a variety ofproducts and configurations in a particular geographic region. Inaddition, such system enables, if desired, the buyer to “lock in” aspecific offer via the system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a system architecture for a system in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating the tasks performed byeach hardware block shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates the system database structure for the systemillustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates a sequence of steps executed by one embodiment of theexchange system as part of the product purchasing process.

FIG. 5 illustrates the various administrative tasks performed by theexchange system.

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a sequence of process stepsexecuted to access the exchange system.

FIG. 7 illustrates a sequence of process steps to be performed inconnection with creating a seller account in the exchange system.

FIG. 8 illustrates the process steps executed in connection withupdating configuration data stored in the configuration database of thesystem.

FIG. 9 illustrates the sequence of process steps executed in loadingproduct offers into a system database.

FIG. 10 illustrates a sequence of process steps associated withexecuting offers to buy and special requests.

FIG. 11 illustrates a sequence of process steps associated with enablingreview/update of prior offers contained in the offer to sell database ofthe system.

FIG. 12 illustrates a sequence of process steps executed in connectionwith acknowledgement of acceptance of an offer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a system architecture for a system 20 which includesa communications network 22 having multiple branches 24A B. Network 22may, for example, be a wide area network such as the network known as“Internet” or may be one of many other types of networks. Accordingly,although one embodiment of the present invention is described below inthe context of a network such as Internet, it should be understood thatthe present invention may be used in connection with many other types ofcommunications networks.

One embodiment of an exchange system 26 is illustrated in FIG. 1 asbeing coupled to network 22 via a multi-line communications control androuter 28. System 26 includes, for example, a file server having aprocessor and memory storage. Such file servers are commerciallyavailable, such as the IBM RS-600 or HP-9000. Databases 30A B and 32 areillustrated as forming a part of system 26. Databases 30A B and 32would, for example, be part of the memory storage of the file server.

Administration database 30A is utilized for storing data related totasks executed by system 26. Configurations database 30B stores datarelated to specific product configurations which may be accessed, vianetwork 22, from remote sites. Database 32 includes a price inquiriesdatabase 34A, an offer to buy and special request database 34B, anaccepted offers database 34C and an offers to sell (“prices”) database34D. A plurality of personal computers such as personal computers 36Aand 36B are coupled to system 26 via a local area network (LAN) toenable access to system 26 without requiring access to network 22.

Buyer sites 38 and seller sites 40 are shown as being coupled to branch24B of network 22. Particularly, potential buyers, through personalcomputers and modems 42A and 42B, may access exchange system 26 vianetwork 22. Similarly, sellers, through personal computers and modems44A and 44B, may access exchange system 26 via network 22. Of course,the functions performed by system 26 for such buyers and sellers aredifferent, as explained hereinafter in more detail.

Institution sites 46 are shown as being coupled to branch 24A of network22. Such institutions may include lending institutions such as banks.Institutions may access exchange system 26 through modem 48, coupled toa file server 50 having a product buying service accounts database 52,and via personal computers 54A and 54B. Account information for productpurchases made by buyers at buyer sites 38 via system 26 may be storedin database 52.

It should be understood, of course, that the architecture illustrated inFIG. 1 may vary depending upon the network utilized. Also, manyadditional buyer sites 38, seller sites 40 and institution sites 46 maybe coupled to system 26. Further, a geographic area such as a country,e.g., the United States of America, could be divided into regions withseparate systems 26 serving such regions.

FIG. 2 illustrates, for sites 38, 40 and 46 and system 26, somefunctions performed at such sites 38, 40 and 46 and by system 26. Morespecifically, with respect to system 26, product configuration masterfiles which include a base description, an options description anddescriptions of other information pertinent to particular products, aremaintained by system 26. System 26 also maintains specific accountsrelated to sellers, buyers and institutions that use system 26. Certainactivities also are tracked, for example, for buyer inquiries, offersand special requests, by system 26. Further, seller price offer activityand specific price offers are maintained within databases in system 26.

With respect to buyer sites 38, at such sites, a potential buyer may,via personal computer and modem 42A B, enter commands to cause system 26to execute routines to enable such buyer to review pricing, make offers,special requests and accept a seller offer. At seller sites 40, sellersmay, via personal computer and modem 44A B, enter commands to causesystem 26 to execute routines to enable such seller to, by a mass uploadto system 26 or by exception, maintain offers by base model and optionsin databases of system 26. In addition, sellers may respond to specificbuyer acceptances and special requests communicated to seller sites 40from buyer sites 38 via system 26. The manner in which certain functionsare executed by system 26 is described hereinafter in more detail.

At institution sites 46, institutions may provide pricing service forcustomers via system 26. Such institutions may also maintain, in fileserver 50, information regarding individual accounts and offers.

Product configuration services 56 may provide data to system 26 relatedto particular product brands and models. In this manner, system 26 maycompliment existing services which provide, on-line, productconfiguration information.

FIG. 3 illustrates various types of information stored in databases 30Band 34A E of exchange system 26. No particular hierarchy is intended tobe expressed or implied by the arrows shown in FIG. 3. Rather, sucharrows are only intended to facilitate an understanding of such data andthe interrelationships. Further, it should be understood that althoughspecific databases are referred to, the data in any one of the databasesmay be distributed or combined in many different configurations withdata from other databases. Therefore, the database configurationillustrated in FIG. 3 and described below is provided primarily tofacilitate an understanding of system 26, and should not be construed asa limitation of system 26.

Referring specifically to FIG. 3, in configurations database 30B,information regarding new products is stored. Such information includes,for each designated product, make, brand, style and other descriptive.Such information typically provides a detailed description of eachparticular product. Note that although information regarding aparticular product may be stored in configurations database 30B, aparticular seller may not have made a specific offer for that specificconfiguration. Therefore, data stored in configurations database 30B maynot necessarily match information stored in offers to sell database 34D.

With respect to offers to sell database 34D, information such as anidentification of the seller making an offer, the seller region, andpricing information by brand/model, style and descriptions is stored.Such information identifies, by sellers having specific geographicselling locations, offers to sell certain products.

In price inquiries database 34A, information related to potential buyerinquiries is stored. Such information includes an identification of eachbuyer, by identification number, who makes an inquiry to offers to selldatabase 34D, the buyer's geographic region, and the productbrand/model, style and options which were the subject of the buyerinquiry.

Buyer offers and special request database 34B is utilized by system 26for storing information related to offers made by buyers and specialrequests made by potential buyers, via system 26, to a seller. Forexample, a buyer may request an updated price offer based on a uniqueselection of options. For each such buyer offer and special request,buyer and seller identifications, geographic region, and make/model,style and options information is stored in database 34B.

System 26 stores, in accepted offers database 34C and for each offeraccepted via system 26, an identification of the buyer and seller and anoffer number, which is assigned to the accepted offer by system 26. Suchinformation may be used, for example, for billing purposes.

With respect to administration database 34E, information related toseller accounts, buyer accounts, and geographic locations for buyers andsellers is stored. Also, institution accounts, transactions logs, systembilling, and accounts receivable information is stored in such database34E.

As pointed out above, the specific architecture and structure ofdatabases 30B and 34A E may, of course, vary and is not limited to thespecific structure illustrated in FIG. 3. In addition, althoughdatabases 30B and 34A E are shown as being separate, such databasescould be consolidated or distributed in many other configurations.Further, information in addition to the specific data described abovecould be stored in, and form a part of, such databases.

FIG. 4 illustrates functions 100 performed by exchange system 26.Functions 100 are illustrated in a logic diagram form. However, itshould be understood that such functions 100 could be performed in anysequence, in a distributed manner, or in parallel, and no specificexecution order is intended, expressed or implied, by such flow. Also,any one of the functions illustrated in FIG. 4 could be performedwithout necessarily performing, within a certain time limitation, any ofthe other functions.

Referring now particularly to FIG. 4, upon initialization 102 of system26, functions performed by system 26 include maintaining seller, buyerand institution accounts 104, maintaining new product configurationmasters 106, and maintaining price offers by sellers by make, model,style and options 108. Such maintenance functions are describedhereinafter in more detail and generally require maintaining currentinformation in the various databases of system 26.

Exchange system 26 also validates price offers 110. For example, once aseller at a seller site 40 communicates a specific offer to sell aproduct, system 26, prior to loading such offer in database 34D,displays the information which is the subject of the offer to theseller. If the information is correct, the seller enters a command oncomputer 44A, for example, and system 26 then loads the validatedinformation into database 34D.

System 26 also is configured to determine, upon receiving a buyercommand, a low market price 110 for a selected specific configurationwithin a designated geographic region. Particularly, a potential buyerat a buyer site 38 may want to place a specific “offer to buy” oridentify a specific desired product configuration and a particulargeographic region in which such buyer would be willing to travel withinto obtain a product. Such information is then loaded into computer 42A,for example, through a graphical user interface. Such information isthen transmitted to system 26. Using such inputted information, offersto sell database 34D is scanned to identify matches for the selectedproduct configuration offered for sale in the selected geographicregion. The selling prices are then compared for such matches, and thelowest selling price is then caused to be displayed by system 26 atcomputer 42A. Exchange system 26 also enables, upon receipt of a buyercommand, a buyer to review seller price offers 112 for a variety ofproducts.

If a buyer desires to make an offer or a special request of a seller,such requests may be made to a seller 114 through system 26. Exchangesystem 26 also enables a buyer to review and update pricing inquiries116, and if a buyer accepts a seller offer via system 26, system 26generates a buyer acceptance notification 118.

With respect to offers to buy and special requests 114, exchange system26 communicates such offers and requests to the buyer designated sellerand enables such seller to respond to the offer or request via system26. If a seller response to a special request is acceptable, the buyermay accept the seller's offer and system 26 will generate acceptancenotification 118. Exchange 26 also generates, for the seller, anotification of offer acceptance 122. Of course, if a seller accepts anoffer to buy 114, exchange 26 generates a notification of the selleracceptance.

Administration tasks performed by system 26 generate data to be storedin administration database 38 (FIG. 1). More specifically, and as shownin FIG. 5, system 26 monitors account activity and data 124, managesdeposits and credits 126, maintains account billings and collections 128and performs periodic backup and file storage operations 130. Datarelated to such activities is loaded in administration database 30A andmay later be utilized, for example, to generate buyer and seller billingfor access and use of system 26.

FIG. 6 illustrates a sequence of process steps 150 executed inconnection with performing a buyer sign-on 152 to exchange 26.Specifically, to perform a sign-on 152 at a buyer site 38 (FIG. 1),personal computer 42A. for example, first accesses network 22 via, anon-line service 154 such as CompuServe. A link 156 is establishedthrough communications network 22 with system 26. System 26 thenrequests buyer identification information to determine whether thespecific user is a first-time potential buyer 158. If the buyer is afirst time user, then buyer information is added 160 to theadministration database 30A. System 26 then validates the buyer'sentries 162, for example, by displaying such entries to the buyer atcomputer 42A. If all the entries are not correct 164, then the buyer mayedit such entries. Otherwise, if the entries have been correctlyentered, system 26 acknowledges proper access by the buyer and displaysa menu 166 at personal computer 42A, for example. If the buyer is not afirst-time buyer, operations would proceed directly to acknowledging thebuyer and displaying a menu 166.

The menu displayed to a buyer, for example, is a graphical userinterface which enables the buyer to select from various options such asshopping 168, oilers 170, and account 172. Once the buyer has selectedan option, system 26 responds to such selection. For example, if thebuyer selects “shopping” 168, since this service is not executed bysystem 26, system 26 prompts the buyer to logoff system 26. On the otherhand, if the buyer selects “offers” 170, then system 26 executes thesequence of process steps associated with reviewing seller price offers176. If the user selects account 172, then system 26 will cause accountactivity 178 for the subject buyer to be displayed at the buyer'scomputer.

FIG. 7 illustrates a sequence of process steps 200 associated with aseller sign-on operation 202. Specifically, a seller accesses system 26through a personal computer and modem configuration 44A, for example,through branch 24B of network 22. A communications link is thencompleted with system 26. Once a seller has accessed system 26, system26 determines whether the particular seller is a new seller to thesystem 204. Such a determination is made, for example, by checking theadministration database 30A for the seller identification.

If the seller is a new seller to system 26, then the seller is promptedto enter name, address, contact, telephone and fax information 206.System 26 then assigns the seller an identification number and an SMSAregion 208. System 26 also sets all account balances for the seller tozero 210 and adds the seller account 212 to administration database 30A.Once such an account is established, the seller may update the selleraccount master information 214 stored in administration database 30A.

If the seller is not a new seller 204, then system 26 will prompt theseller and request entry of new or updated data 216. A seller may updateinformation in any and all fields for information stored by system 26with respect to such seller 218. Once such data has been entered, thensystem 26 updates the account master for the seller 214 stored inadministration database 30A. Once all such information has been enteredand stored by system 26, all the updated account information is caused,by system 26, to be displayed at personal computer 44A, for example, toenable the seller to review such information and to ensure itscorrectness 216.

FIG. 8 illustrates a sequence of process steps 250 executed by system 26to perform a batch update 252 of all product configuration data storedin configuration database 30B. Particularly, process steps 250 would beexecuted by system 26 on a weekly or some other regular basis. Suchupdate would be performed to ensure that all new master files related toproducts being offered through system 26 have been updated and saved inan appropriate manner.

Referring to process 250 in more detail, system 26 first reads/uploadsthe latest source file configurations from configurations database 30B.System 26 also may read/upload configurations from other sources such asthird party configuration sources 56. Once such configurations areuploaded into active memory of system 26, then the newly entered productconfigurations since the last batch update, which may be stored in abuffer memory, are compared with the existing configurations inconfigurations database 30B at step 256. If for any particular productconfiguration such configuration does not exist in configurationdatabase 30B, a new record is created for such new product configuration258 and the new record is added to the other records which will bestored in configurations database 30B. If the product configuration isalready stored in configurations database 30B, then operations proceedto block 260, where all information is updated 260 by copying allrecords in active memory of system 26 to configurations data base 30B.Such updated information in configurations database 30B forms the newmaster records which may be accessed by both buyers and sellers asdescribed above.

FIG. 9 illustrates a sequence of process steps 300 which would beperformed by seller at a site 40 on a personal computer and modemconfiguration 44A, for example, to enter an offer into system 26. Morespecifically, once a seller at a seller site 40 has initialized 302system 26, system 26 prompts 304 such seller as to whether such sellerwould like to update seller data stored in the various databases ofsystem 26. System 26 then merges 306 information from productconfigurations database 30B for the most recently updated master recordsand from the offers to sell database 34D. Such information is merged bysystem 26 to form an integrated new record for an interim seller's offerfile at site 40 displayed at computer 44A. If the seller determines toupdate or create new records, the seller may modify the records asdisplayed and upon completion of such updating, the new/updated recordsare loaded to form an updated offers to sell database 34D. The seller atthe seller site 40 also is prompted by system 26 as to whether suchseller would like to update the offers to sell database 34D for theseller's records by exception 308. If a seller does desire to updatesuch offers by exception, then such seller may update specificinformation, such as pricing information, by a selected amount orpercentage 310. Such updated information is stored in the interim fileand may subsequently be loaded into database 34D by system 26 at step318.

If a seller does not desire to update such offers by exception, theseller is then prompted by system 26 as to whether such seller woulddesire to update the pricing information for each configuration by afixed amount or percentage 312. If a seller would like to perform suchan update, the seller may indicate the general dollar amount mark-up orpercentage over factory invoice at 314. Again, such updated informationis stored in the interim file and may subsequently be loaded intodatabase 34D by system 26.

If the seller does not desire to perform any such updates, or once suchupdates have been completed via step 318, then system 26 causes thedisplay at seller site 40 to indicate that the price offer databaseupdate has been completed 316.

Administration database 30A is then updated with new account balancesfor the seller performed functions 320. The seller could, of course,have a price offer report printed-out at seller site 40. If the sellerselects to have such information printed, then the price offer report isprinted-out at the seller site 40 from the updated records in offer tosell database 34D for that seller by make, brand, options and style.

Internally within system 26, and for current records within oilers tosell database 34D for each product configurations, such records may besorted by configuration to identify and store such information by lowestoffer first. Such information may be stored in database 34D for alloffers to sell in this manner.

FIG. 10 illustrates a sequence of process steps 350 associated withenabling a buyer at buyer site 38 to make an offer to buy in a selectedgeographic region or a special request to a specific seller at a sellersite 40 via exchange system 26. Such operations are referred to as anoffer to buy or a special seller request. Particularly, once a buyeraccesses 352 system 26 at a buyer site 38, the buyer sign-on process isexecuted as illustrated in FIG. 6 as process 150. Through such sequenceof process steps, buyer information may be reviewed and revised 352 fromadministration database 30A.

The buyer may then enter and select a make, model, options and style ofproduct which the buyer desires to purchase 354. The buyer then selectswhether to make an “offer to buy” or a “request” 358. If the buyerdesires to make an offer to buy, then the buyer enters and validates thespecific product configuration related to the offer 360. Once suchconfiguration information is entered, the buyer then enters the price362 and selected geographic regions 364. Exchange system 26 thenreceives this information and sends an offers message to sellers withinthe selected geographic region 366 and updates offers to buy/specialrequest database 34B.

If the buyers desires to make a request 358, then the buyer enters andvalidates the product configuration data related to the request 370,enters special options 372, and selects a specific seller from theaccount master in database 30A of system 26. Exchange system 26 thenreceives the special requests, transmits the request to the specifiedseller and updates the special requests database 34B with a copy of thesubject request. The message may be stored, for example, at the personalcomputer 44A at the selected seller site 40 and the message may bestored in an E-mail location specified by the seller.

FIG. 11 illustrates a sequence of process steps 400 which would beexecuted by system 26 in connection with a buyer accepting a selleroffer from the offers stored in offer to sell database 34D.Particularly, a buyer at a buyer site 38, on a personal computer 42A,for example, accesses 402 system 26 and indicates whether the buyerwants to review existing seller oilers by descriptions 404. If the buyerwants to review such existing description and price selections, thensuch information is obtained from the offers to sell database 34D andfrom any seller responses in special requests database 34B, and suchinformation is displayed to the potential buyer at step 406.

The buyer may add, change or delete a particular product configurationas indicated at a step 408. Specifically, if a buyer selects or desiresto delete a particular configuration, the make, model, option and stylewould be deleted from the buyer's price inquiries which are stored inthe price inquiries database 34A into the local memory of personalcomputer 42A.

Once a buyer has selected a particular description which the buyerdesires to have pricing information on, system 26 first determineswhether such a description is a valid description 410. Such adetermination is made, for example, by comparing the selecteddescription with the descriptions stored in descriptions database 30B.If the description is not valid, then operations return to step 408 inwhich a buyer may select a different description.

If the description is valid, operations proceed to step 412 in which forthe particular descriptions selected, the prices are obtained by system26 from the offer to sell database 34D and such information is added tothe particular description information currently then being displayed atpersonal computer 34A and are added to the price inquiry database 34A.If, upon the buyer's review, there is at least one offer which isacceptable 414, system 26 validates acceptance of the offer byrechecking the data and ensuring that the offer to sell from offer tosell database 34D is still current 420. If such information isvalidated, then the accepted offer information is stored in acceptedoffers database 34C and for the particular seller and buyer, the accountbalances are updated 422 and stored in a buyer's accounts transactionlog in system 26. If no offers are acceptable 414, processing proceedsdirectly to step 422.

FIG. 12 illustrates a sequence of process steps 450 executed by system26 in connection with the seller and buyer introduction process 452.Particularly, once a buyer has accepted an offer in accordance with thesequence of steps 400 as illustrated in FIG. 11, the seller that madethe offer is informed of such acceptance by system 26 and mayacknowledge, via personal computer 44A at seller site 40, for example,the particular acceptance of the offer or a special request as stored inaccepted offers database 34C and special request database 34B, asindicated at step 454.

Once the seller receives information regarding such an acceptance as setforth in step 454, then the seller may make contact with the potentialbuyer 456 via E-mail, telephone or even through system 26. If thetransaction is concluded between the buyer and the seller, then acceptedoffers database 34C is updated by the seller at seller site 40 andsystem 26 at step 458. System 26 then executes administrative tasks withdatabase 30A as indicated at 460 and the seller account, buyer account,transaction log is updated in administration database 30A.

The above described system 26 enables a potential product purchaser toeasily and quickly review all models and other information regardingspecific product configurations of interest in combination with finalpricing information for products in a particular geographic region.System 26 also enables a potential product purchaser to ascertain thebest price for a particular product and to “lock in” to a specificseller offer via the system.

From the preceding description of an embodiment of the presentinvention, it is evident that the objects of the invention are attained.Although the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, itis to be clearly understood that the same is intended by way ofillustration and example only and is not to be taken by way oflimitation. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the invention are to belimited only by the terms of the appended claims.

1. A method for operating an electronic product exchange comprising:accepting through a communication network, from computers of potentialbuyers, requests containing select product configuration data;responsive to the requests, automatically searching, among pricing dataand product configuration data for different products for sale bypotential sellers, for products that match the select productconfiguration data of the request; sorting the products by price, for atleast the products that have select product configuration data matchingthe request; and further responsive to each of the requests,automatically transferring, through the network to the computer of thepotential buyer who made the request, information identifying thematching products for display in price-sorted order.
 2. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the searching comprises searching a computer databasecontaining the pricing data and product configuration data.
 3. Themethod of claim 2 wherein the computer database stores the data in orderof price, according to product configuration.
 4. The method of claim 2further comprising, before the searching, accepting through thecommunication network, from the potential sellers, the pricing data andproduct configuration data for the different products for sale by thepotential sellers, and storing such information automatically in thecomputer database.
 5. The method of claim 4 wherein accepting thepricing data and product configuration data comprises allowing thepotential sellers to upload the data through the network to the computerdatabase at will.
 6. The method of claim 4 further comprising, after theautomatically transferring, accepting one or more purchase orders overthe communication network from the computer of the potential buyer towhom the information identifying the matching products was transferred,and responsive thereto, automatically storing buyer identification data,seller identification data, price, and product configuration data. 7.The method of claim 6 further comprising automatically generating a billfor a fee for each purchase order for which information is stored. 8.The method of claim 1 wherein accepting product configuration dataincludes accepting information concerning a product's brand, style, ormake.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein accepting product configurationdata also includes accepting information concerning a product's colorchoices, options, or feature choices.
 10. The method of claim 1 whereinthe communication network comprises the Internet.
 11. An electronicproduct exchange comprising: a computer system configured to be accessedthrough a communication network, the computer system configured toreceive one or more commands from computers of potential buyers coupledto the network, wherein a command comprises product configuration datatransmitted through the network by one of the potential buyers, whereinthe computer system is further configured to access data and productconfiguration data for different products for sale by potential sellers,wherein the computer system is further configured to: responsive to oneof the one or more commands, automatically search among the productconfiguration data for the different products for products that matchthe product configuration data in the command; sort the products byprice, for at least the products that have select product configurationdata matching the product configuration data in the command; andresponsive to the command, automatically transfer, through thecommunication network to the computer of the potential buyer whotransmitted the respective command, information identifying one or morematching products for display in price-sorted order at the computer ofthe potential buyer who transmitted the command.
 12. The electronicproduct exchange of claim 11, further comprising a database containingthe data and product configuration data for the sellers' products,wherein the database is configured to be accessible by the computersystem and to be accessible to one or more potential sellers.
 13. Theelectronic product exchange of claim 12, wherein the computer system isfurther configured to automatically record buyer identification data,seller identification data, price, and product configuration data inresponse to a purchase order transmitted over the network from thecomputer of the potential buyer to whom the information has beentransferred.
 14. The electronic product exchange of claim 13, whereinthe computer system is further configured to automatically generate abill for a fee for the purchase order.
 15. An electronic productexchange system comprising: a server accessible through a communicationnetwork from computers of potential buyers coupled to the network, andcomputers of potential sellers; a first computer database, accessible bythe server, containing pricing and product configuration data fordifferent products for sale, wherein the server is configured toautomatically search the first computer database for those products thatmatch a request containing product configuration data transmittedthrough the network by a computer of one of the potential buyers andautomatically transfer information about the matching products throughthe network to the computer of the potential buyer, and wherein thetransferred information identifies the matching products in price-sortedorder; and a second computer database coupled to the server, wherein theserver is configured to automatically record buyer identification data,seller identification data, price, and product configuration data in thesecond computer database in response to purchase orders transmitted overthe network to the server from the computer of the potential buyer towhich the price-sorted information has been transferred.
 16. The systemof claim 15 further comprising a computerized automatic billing systemto automatically generate a bill for a fee for each of the purchaseorders.
 17. The system of claim 15 further comprising a network linkbetween the server and financial institutions.
 18. The system of claim15 wherein the first computer database is configured to store the datain order of price, according to product configuration.